


Widow's Enchantment

by alexcat



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Porn With Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-06-01 00:06:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15130718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexcat/pseuds/alexcat
Summary: Nick Fury sends Romanov to check up on Stephen Strange.





	Widow's Enchantment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nuinzilien](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nuinzilien/gifts).



Even though she spent much of her time on the run, Natasha Romanov did keep in touch with Nick Fury and now and again, he asked her to do him a favor. How could she say no to Fury? 

She was hiding out at Clint’s farm for a few days. 

“Romanov? I need you to slip into New York and check out a name that has popped up on our watch list a few times. This one is kinda odd. His name is Stephen Strange and he’s at 177A Bleecker Street in the Village.”

“Are you nuts? I’m a wanted woman.”

“Come on, I know you’ve been in the city several times.”

She agreed because he was right and knew she could slip in unnoticed and hide in plain sight. 

She arrived at Laguardia at 8am the next morning. She got a cab over to Manhattan and walked for a while before heading to the Village to check out this Strange person. A couple of hours later, she was standing on the front steps of 177A Bleecker Street, looking up at a strange building. She knocked on the front door and an Asian man answered the door. 

“I’m looking for a man named Strange,” she told him. 

“And you are?” 

“Natalie Rushman.”

He bowed and motioned for her to enter. He showed her to a small parlor. “I’ll tell him you are here.” 

“Hello, Natalie Rushman. What can I do for you?” 

He was tall, had black hair with grey streaks and a Van Dyke beard and as good looking as hell. His voice was silky smooth and cold as ice. 

“I, uh, well, someone sent me here to check you out.”

“Who, might I ask?” 

“Someone from a government agency.”

“I believe you are an Avenger, one of Tony Stark’s group of superheroes. Natasha Romanov, maybe?”

“Maybe. Who are you?” 

“I am Dr. Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts.”

“You’re a wizard? I was sent here to check out a wizard?” 

“I might be a little more than that but basically, yes. I prefer sorcerer.” 

“You have apparently shown up on someone’s list to watch and I’m here to watch you.” 

“At least, they sent someone attractive and perhaps even intelligent.” 

“I think you might be as big an ass as Tony Stark.” She was actually warming up a little to this cool customer. A little.

He smiled at her remark. “I might be at that.”

“So maybe you can tell me why you might be of interest to anyone?” 

He smiled coolly. “I have no idea. You tell me.” 

“I just do as I’m told.” 

“I think not. You are a former Russian operative, raised to be an assassin by the KGB.”

She felt a chill run down her spine. No one should know that about her. Perhaps this man _was_ dangerous. 

“Why would you say such a thing?” Her voice was much shakier than she meant it to be. 

“It’s true, is it not?”

“I can’t answer that.”

“It’s not important but I do know quite a lot about you. I have no desire to cause you harm. Would you like some tea?” 

Without thinking she said yes and tea was there, on the table in front of them. Strange poured her a cup. “Sugar? Milk?”

“Black, thank you.” She was certainly out of her element here. And Natasha was never out of her element. Stephen Strange made her feel an anxiety she wasn’t accustomed to feeling. 

“Ms. Romanov, as I said, I have no intentions of harming you in any way. I’m not sure that I even could. I meant no insult either. What I said is fact and that you cannot change. I am curious why you are here, as a former Avenger, to check me out.”

“Like I said, you’ve been on a watch list for a long time. Even before your accident. Why, I’m not sure.” 

“You are good. No accent at all.” 

She smiled. “I was trained by the best. But that is all behind me.”

“Yet you are still on the run,” Strange stated. 

“It has nothing to do with my past though. It has to do with Rogers. I allowed him to escape arrest.”

“Why?” 

“He is one of my best friends. I couldn’t stand by and watch the government harm someone he cared about and neither could he.” 

“Barnes,” he stated matter-of-factly.

She nodded. “Why am I telling you these things? I came here to ask _you_ questions.”

“Ask away.” 

“How did you make the tea just appear like that?” 

“Short answer – magic. Longer answer – mystic art… thinking outside our normal reality.”

“So it’s not just a parlor trick?” 

He smiled. God, he was a handsome devil, she thought. “Not in the least, my dear.” And maybe not quite as cold as he first seemed.

“Then what?” 

“Sorcery is complicated. The world you see is not the only world. There exists a multiverse of many realities and times. We sorcerers use knowledge and training _and_ these multiverses to protect this one. Just as your Avengers protect from threats, we protect from threats from other dimensional beings.” 

She wondered if he knew how crazy that sounded. 

“And you’re thinking that all this is crazy mumbo jumbo. I thought that, too, until the Ancient One stranded me on Everest in my shirt sleeves with only my sling ring to get back.”

When she still didn’t say anything, he reached for her hand. “Come with me. I will show you.” 

She hesitated for a second. “I promise no harm will come to you.” She took his gloved hand and he made a motion with his other hand and a ring of fire formed. He made it large enough to walk through. She didn’t resist when he led her through it. 

They were standing in Red Square in Moscow. 

“This is real?” Natasha was stunned. 

“It is.” He made another ring and they stepped back into the Sanctum in New York. 

“How do I know for sure that this is not some elaborate trick?” 

“You choose the place.” 

“The Eiffel Tower.”

“On it or nearby?”

“Nearby.” 

He conjured another ring and they stepped through into Paris. Beside the Eiffel Tower. She was more than anxious now. She knew the kind of power Cap had and she knew Wanda had powers as well, but this, this was more than power. It really was magic. Natasha Romanov was, for one of the first times in many years, scared. 

He took them back home again to New York. “Would you let me take you to dinner? I assume you are not living here in New York right now.” 

“No, I’m not. I was sent from – elsewhere.”

“Do you have a hotel?” 

“Uh, not yet. My luggage is at the airport.” 

He suggested a place nearby that was fairly cheap yet clean and sent her in a taxi to get her things. She went without argument, still stunned a little from what she’d seen. She did call Fury while she was gone to report. She told him everything. 

“Is he a threat then?” Fury asked her. 

“I don’t think so, but he is frightening.” 

“Stay there a few days. Get to know him better.” 

“Oh, I intend to,” she answered, knowing there was more than work that made her want to know more. 

Much more. 

*

Strange took her to a little Italian place that was inexpensive and wonderful. They ate lasagna made by an authentic Italian grandmother and her grandson. The wine was cheap, too, but that didn’t stop it from being tasty. Both of them drank quite a bit. 

“So tell me something about the woman, not the trained assassin.” 

Strange had changed to jeans and a soft, blue sweater. He looked handsome, more like a college professor than a sorcerer. She wore a short, green dress over black leggings and boots. 

“I am my work. I do not work as an assassin and haven’t for many years. I worked for a government agency for many years then I became an Avenger. I work with Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner.” 

“Ah yes. The ones who made a mess out of New York and destroyed Sokovia.”

She smiled ruefully. “Nothing like the mess that would have resulted had we not intervened.” 

“I think I believe you. So what will you tell your superiors?” 

“That I can’t see you as a threat. I can’t stop them from keeping an eye on you though.” 

“And still I make you nervous. Why?” 

“How do you know all you do?” 

“I am good at research. I studied the Avengers when I was told that what I do is the mystical counterpart to their work. I never expected one of you to come knocking at my door, but I am delighted it was you instead of Stark.” 

They finished dinner and he escorted her back to her hotel. 

“Would you like a tour of the Sanctum?”

She shrugged. “Why not?” 

“Come over for lunch and I’ll show you around and introduce you to my cloak.” 

His cloak? “Cloak?”

“You’ll see. Good night.” He unexpectedly kissed her cheek and was gone. 

*

Natasha didn’t call Fury. She did call Steve to check in with him. She told him about Strange, laughing when he asked her if she was sweet on Strange already.

“I don’t know, Steve. He’s very fascinating and dashing.”

“Good luck, then. I hope you find what you’re looking for.” 

She still couldn’t sleep. She watched late night TV and tossed and turned a lot. She was eating a bagel in the small café next to the hotel when Strange simply walked up and sat down with her. 

“Good morning, Ms. Romanov. I trust you slept well?” 

“Not worth a crap but thank you for asking. Coffee?” She asked as she flagged a waitress and ordered him a coffee, looking to him to tell the waitress how he wanted it. 

“Black please,” he said then smiled at Natasha. “Am I to be studied for risk assessment again today?”

“I don’t fly out for a couple more days so yes, if you’ll put up with me. You did promise to show me your cloak.”

“I did, didn’t I? So tell me, are they really the heroes they seem to be?”

“Yes, they actually are. Even Tony, who is also a big ass.” 

“Rogers?” 

“Oh, Steve is all he’s cracked up to be.” 

“Hmmm. That is interesting. Perhaps I’ll get to meet them sometime.” 

She laughed. “I wonder what they, Tony especially, would make of a sorcerer.”

She had finished her food and he, his coffee so they walked the several blocks back to the Sanctum. 

Wong opened the door. “Good morning, Miss Romanov.”

He took her to the display where the Cloak of Levitation was kept. It hung quietly. He talked to it and she rolled her eyes, not believing that such an object was animated in any way. When they turned to walk away, it came out of the display and wrapped itself around Strange as if to claim him for her to see. 

“I think it’s jealous,” she said with a smile. 

“It does tend to be that way sometimes. It sees you as a threat.”

“Me a threat?” 

He shrugged. He took her a tour of the dusty old mansion, showing her the artifacts and telling her a little about the Mystic Arts and the Sanctums. He told her a very general version of his battle with Dormammu and of the loss of the Ancient One. 

She saw his sorrow at the passing of his teacher. “So you and Wong are the keepers of this Sanctum?”

“I am the keeper and Wong is the librarian still. I think he probably knows more than I ever will. I am a novice but I am what is left to do the job.”

“It sounds as if you did okay with the first threat.” 

“I expect luck might have played into it.”

“Luck always plays into it. You bring your skill set and hope for the best of luck in any fight, big or small.”

“You sound as if you’ve been in many.” 

She smiled. “I have. Too many at too high a cost.”

“So have I passed muster then?” He asked, genuinely curious about what she’d answer. 

“Is there anything I could do to stop if you didn’t?” Natasha arched an eyebrow. 

“Short of killing me, no.” 

“There’s your answer.” 

“So what is next for you?”

“Back into hiding.”

“I think I should like to take you out to a fancy dinner tonight at a fancy hotel but alas, I spent all my money trying to cure my hands. I _can_ take you somewhere far away for dinner.”

“With the ring?”

They went to Rome and walked around for several hours. When dinner time came, they ate at a little restaurant that had tables outdoors. They ate and talked more of their lives. He talked of his work and about Christine. She talked about her friendship with Clint, about her feelings about Bruce. 

He had not taken off his gloves yet. 

When they got back to the sanctum, she asked to see his hands.

He got very quiet. 

“I won’t insist if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“They are extensively scarred and they still tremble sometimes. I am not fond of showing weakness.”

“I am not your enemy, Stephen.” She moved closer to him as they talked on the small sofa in one of the rooms in the Sanctum. “Trembling is sometimes a sign of strength as well.” 

“Are you my friend then?” 

“I can be. Do you want that?” She reached for his hands and slipped the gloves off. The scars were not pretty and they were numerous, where pins had been put in almost every joint in both of his hands. “That must have been very painful,” she said in a low voice. “Do they hurt now?” 

“Not so much. They stiffen in the cold.” 

She saw the tremor. It was ever so slight, but it was there. She took his hands in hers and brought them to her lips, kissing the scars almost reverently. She placed his open palm against her face and leaned her head toward it. She wanted…

She wanted to make him feel less pain, wanted to feel less pain herself. If only for a little while. 

“Put your hands on me, Stephen.”

There could be no misunderstanding in her tone and he understood her perfectly. He cupped her face in his hands first and moved close to her, kissing her lips so gently that she almost wondered if it really happened. 

She moved his right hand to her chest, placing it where her heart was. He pulled her close with his other arm and kissed her again. They were moving fast but in Natasha’s world, there was no time for long courtship and slow pursuit. She never knew if she’d have tomorrow at all. 

He stood and lifted her into his arms, carrying her to his small bedroom. He pushed the door closed with his elbow and put her on the bed. She reached for him and he went to her. They lay in each other’s arms, kissing for several minutes. 

“You have on too many clothes, Natasha,” he purred in that silky voice that made her shiver. 

He began to help her rectify that situation as she reciprocated by tugging at his shirt and pants. After several minutes of this, both of them were down to underwear. They lay together and began kissing again, both of them exploring exposed flesh with eager hands. 

He removed her bra while he nibbled her ear, caressing her breasts with scarred hands that were quite capable of giving pleasure. He moved his way down to lick and suck at both breasts, teasing her until she moaned aloud, wanting much more from him. 

She slipped her hands inside his underwear, touching him with eager hands. 

When he paused his kisses to help her remove her tiny red panties, she lifted her hips to help. As soon as the offending garment was disposed of, he moved on top of her and let her guide him inside. She was quite ready for him and wrapped her legs over his, pulling him close for a kiss as he began to thrust, slowly and deliberately, at first. 

Natasha did not allow him to stay deliberate long as she thrashed beneath him, moving in varying rhythms that ate away at his control and pushed him toward his own pleasure. 

“Gods, woman, you’re like a dervish! I -” He lost his train of thought as she wrapped her legs around his hips and arched up to take him even deeper, not allowing him to pull back at all. All he could do was move his entire body and hers. It felt as if they were one creature, moving toward something both desperately wanted, needed. 

He didn’t even try to speak any more. They didn’t really need words anymore. They reached their pinnacle at the same time, clinging together until both of them could breathe and think again. She held him tight with her arms and legs and he gratefully sank into her softness. 

When at last they lay still, he untangled his arms and legs and moved off of her, pulling her close to his side as he moved. He did not want to be separated from her yet. Hers was the first real human warmth he’d felt in what seemed like years. 

She smiled lazily at him. “Did you enchant me somehow?”

He leaned close and kissed her cheek then her lips. “I was about to ask you the same thing.” 

Neither of them spoke again for a very long while.


End file.
